Bay Area jobs growth slowed in March, but still above national average

The 215,000 new jobs created nationwide in March show the U.S. experiencing consistent, if slightly slower, employment growth. In the San Francisco Bay Area, where hiring has been robust in the last few years, job growth also slowed. The good news is that our market is still adding jobs at a pace ahead of the national average. In fact, San Francisco was one of the few primary markets to post a growth rate above four percent in March. Only Orlando (4.9) and Austin (4.7) exceeded San Francisco’s 4.3 percent growth.

Other observers such as SPUR, concur that job growth throughout the Bay Area will likely continue to slow, but also expect the city of San Francisco to show job gains through 2017. SPUR points out that from the 1960s to 2006, San Francisco saw declining employment. Since 2006, the city is now, SPUR says, “regaining its primacy as a jobs center.”

In this respect, at least, San Francisco is bucking a national trend which saw secondary markets like Raleigh-Durham, Nashville, Orlando and Austin surpass cities like Chicago, New York and Atlanta in terms of employment growth.

For more in depth analysis of the March employment numbers, read our recent report here.